Newb Moving to AG Looking for Advice on Setup

[jasonftw]

So I am making the jump into all grain brewing and would like some guidance. I’ve previously made my rounds with the Mr. beer kits rolleyes and a few stovetop Midwest kits. I am definitely in it for the long haul so I didn’t want to skimp out on equipment , but also didn’t want to break the bank at the same time.

I think I eventually want to have a HERMS setup so I decided to go with a SS MLT and insulate/direct fire for now. Right now I am trying to put together a basic system that I can gravity feed and minimize moving/pouring boiling liquids as much as I can, preferably without pumps right now. I also plan to start with 5 gallon batches and want to flexibility to move up to 10 gallon in the future. I am looking for input/critiques on my shopping list, but most importantly I want to make sure what I am purchasing will be enough to start brewing as soon as everything arrives.

Right now what I have priced out are:

-2x 2 weld Morebeer! 14gal economy ss pots (HLT/BK, MLT)
-2x 3 piece SS valve bulkhead components and tubing from bargainfittings
-2x DIY sight glass/thermo combo
-1x Bayou SS10 burner (already purchased)
-1x 50’ SS wort chiller (for immersion now and possibly for my HERMS setup later)
-misc buckets, pet carboys, bottler, caps & accessories from my Midwest kit.

Is this enough to get me on my way or am missing any necessary components? I hope to rig up a 3 tier system with the single burner. Actually as I type this I realize I would need a second burner from the get-go for the MLT. What possibilities would open up if I added a single pump to my initial setup?

Thanks for your patience with confused newb!

 

[DanH]

That's basically what I started with, although I used a 13 gallon cooler MLT. With one burner, you have to heat the water, add the grain, mash, drain to boil pot, and now's the problem... With one burner, you have to no way to heat sparge water. So you add the burner and now you can sparge and again drain to the boil pot. Now is problem 2; lifting the boil pot up onto the burner. A pump would really help.

How I did it was to heat mash water, add to cooler MLT, mash while heating sparge water, drain to boil pot, sparge, drain, then lift boil pot to burner. Now I have a pump for that though. This method lets me get it done with one burner since it's not a direct fire MLT. I hope that all made sense.

 

[Francus]

I think you will need a false bottom or bazooka tube for the mash tun. Also, you will need to be sparging out of something into something. You only have two SS pots. And a sparge arm if you aren't doing batch sparging. So at least a bucket.

I suggest a ladder setup for sparging. the boil kettle is on the ground. The MT is on the burner and/or elevated above the BK. Then on top of a step ladder is a bucket with a spout.

So, you bring up you mash water to strike, dough in. Then while you mash, bring up the sparge water to temp (180 ish). Then the sparge water goes into the bucket, bucket to the top of the stepladder, the BK to the ground, the MT to the spot in the middle. You add your sparge arm and hoses and open the valve on the bucket to the sparge arm and the valve from the MT to the BK. And your set.

And don't forget hoses and connections.

 

[sweetcell]

you only have 2 vessels. are you going to do no-sparge? otherwise, you need 3 vessels of some type, you can't have a "HLT/BK". once you mash is done, you run off the wort into your BK... where are you going to heat water for the sparge? i suppose you could collect the all runnings in some sort of a bucket, but then you'd have to lift 6-7 gallons of warm/hot wort back into the BK (once it's finished its role as a HLT). i started out this way, it's no fun. plan on a 3rd kettle for the HLT. you don't need 14 gallons, 7-8 should be plenty.

get a hand-held digital thermometer for the MLT. one dial thermo, reading from at a single point (which is probably close to the burner), won't give you a good reading. the hand-held ones allow you to take multiple reading throughout the mash and validate what you're seeing on the dial. there are hand-held digital thermos available for under $20.

you need some kind of a false bottom for your MLK, unless you're going to do BIAB.

 

[jasonftw]

Wow thanks for the quick replies! I forgot to mention that I am also purchasing 2 SS braid hoses and plan to batch sparge. I wasn't 100% sure if I needed 2, but I thought I read somewhere that I should have one on the MLT if I am using the valve to carboy. If not, or if I have to siphon, then I will have an extra.

 

[jasonftw]

you only have 2 vessels. are you going to do no-sparge? otherwise, you need 3 vessels of some type, you can't have a "HLT/BK". once you mash is done, you run off the wort into your BK... where are you going to heat water for the sparge? i suppose you could collect the all runnings in some sort of a bucket, but then you'd have to lift 6-7 gallons of warm/hot wort back into the BK (once it's finished its role as a HLT). i started out this way, it's no fun. plan on a 3rd kettle for the HLT. you don't need 14 gallons, 7-8 should be plenty.

get a hand-held digital thermometer for the MLT. one dial thermo, reading from at a single point (which is probably close to the burner), won't give you a good reading. the hand-held ones allow you to take multiple reading throughout the mash and validate what you're seeing on the dial. there are hand-held digital thermos available for under $20.

you need some kind of a false bottom for your MLK, unless you're going to do BIAB.

I have bottling buckets from a previous Midwest kit for the wort. SO now I see where a pump would really come in handy.

 

[Francus]

I brewed for 20+ years without a pump. That said, once I got one I can't live without it. Then I went electric and I have two pumps.

If you plan on batch sparging then you can move water from the HLT/BK to the MT, then drain back to it. That said, if you are planning on going 10 gallon at some point then you will either need a larger MT, or the bucket and doing fly sparging. The bucket is cheaper. Also determine if you want to do big beers. If you ever plan on it, then the current MT volume you have won't be enough for grain and batch sparging.